


Sparkle

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-03-10
Updated: 2008-03-10
Packaged: 2019-01-19 22:16:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12419370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: My explanation how Lily and James came together in their 7th year and why James was a Head Boy, but wasn't a prefect, with a cross-over to the movie "10 things I hate about you"...





	Sparkle

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

  
James threw his broom into the corner of his room. Actually, the Marauders’ room, but that meant the same. He walked to the mirror, which was a bit broken on the edges and had a few scratches on it, but he could still see himself. He didn’t like what he saw.  
In the reflection he saw a seventh year Griffindor, from who he knew that he had a secret fanclub, made by a few second years. He supposed that the boy was indeed handsome, with his hair that stood up in a nice way. The glasses were a bit annoying, but even that he could were with flair. He had a good height, was in a nice shape, noting to complain about at all. No, that weren’t the reasons why he wasn’t content with himself right now.  
It were his eyes.  


Last year, at the end of the school term, he had heard that he would become the Head Boy the next year. He wasn’t supposed to hear it, butt….. well, let’s just say that you might hear things when you are under an invisibility’s cloak in the teachers lounge. He wasn’t exactly happy with the outcome, and absolutely didn’t understand why they would want to make one of the biggest pranksters a Head Boy: a few teachers had thought the same way about it, he had heard.  
Just the day before the train would leave, he found out why: he was called to professor Dumbledore’s office, as was Lily Evans. There, he had heard officially that he would be Head Boy and at the end of the meeting, Dumbledore had sent Lily away, to have a private talk with him.  
He had said that James hadn’t been Dumbledore’s first choice: Remus had been. James was a little disappointed, but that couldn’t be compared to the anger he felt when he heard the reason why Remus couldn’t be Head Boy: The school board didn’t want him to be one.  
 “You see, it was one thing for them to find out that there was a werewolf in school, being educated. I had to tell them after the little incident with Mr. Serverus, a few years ago. It is another thing for them to give this student the highest honour you could give a 7th year. They forbid me to do so, and even I can’t wriggle my way out of this. That’s why it is your job next year, to handle the task just as noble as your friend would have done. I expect it from you Mr. Potter.”  
Dumbledore had then dismissed James. When he had opened the door of the office, he had noticed that Lily Evans still stood outside, apparently waiting for him.  
“Did you hear it?” had James asked.  
“Just a few words,” she said vaguely and cold. “O, don’t be afraid, I already knew for quite some time about Remus’ his condition.” She had added when he had turned his head fast. “It’s a shame that the board didn’t want him to be a Head Boy. He would have made a good one and I would have someone pleasant to work with.”  
“Which part of the conversation haven’t you heard?” he had asked sarcastically, ignoring her last comment.  
“James, Dumbledore is right. You have to grow up, not disappoint him or Remus and stop with the pranks next year.” Then she had left him standing there, flabbergasted. That was the first time since 4th year she had called him James.  


And miracles had happened. Remus had smiled, Peter had let his mouth hang opened and Sirius almost cried when he heard it (okay, drop the word ‘almost’) but James had become a Head Boy, and had stopped with the pranks. (except on Sirius’ birthday and April’s fools day, he had promised Sirius when he wouldn’t stop crying) He became serious.  


And that’s what he right now hated about himself. The sparkle in his eyes had disappeared.  
He just came from the field where his first Quidditch-match had been. Normally, he would have came down, looked into the mirror and saw his eyes, still in awe about the wonderful thing called flying and the good combination it made with the subject winning. Now, his eyes were the same as ever. Dull.  
It hadn’t been for Dumbledore, the changing. Sure, he was part of it, as was the fact that he would leave school soon and a dark wizard was killing people off outside of school. But that still hadn’t been the main reason.  
Lily had been.  
Or to be more precisely, the fact that she had reprimanded him for the last time, had called him by his first name, and that at the exact same time, he had decided that he would given up on her.  
He had finally seen, what Sirius had told him ages ago (no, not the fact that if you stared hard enough at the stars, you would see the word ‘SEX’ in them, the other thing:) Lily Evans really didn’t like him.  
He had sworn himself that he wouldn’t ask her out anymore and wouldn’t annoy her. Of course they had bickered this year, that was just a physics’ law and they hardly couldn’t be, with al the time they were forced to spent. Lily had pursued the teachers long enough, so they had finally gave in to a Christmas Party in the Great Hall, on the condition that Lily and James had to organise it. And such a thing came with a lot of stress and disagreements.  
But now he thought about the red-head, she had been quite nice. Off course she had demanded some things for the feast James absolutely didn’t agree to. (being formal, not to much alcohol, coming as couples) But besides that, she was quite nice to him, now he had stopped being childish.  


The disagreement about coming as couples had been strange:  
“….and people should come as couples.”  
“No Lily, you can’t do that! Do you take pleasure in making every Hogwarts’ boy miserable? Now they have to ask girls to come with them!”  
“I don’t see the problem, James.”  
“They have to _ask_ a girl out. They have to embarrass themselves.”  
“Yes, you know all about that, don’t you?” she had asked him with a smile playing around her lips.  
When he hadn’t said anything, she continued: “But I actually think that the boys around here aren’t just all as stupid like you, and will stop asking a girl out when she says ‘no’ the first time. That way, they can spare themselves from the next 5000 humiliations when the same girl still says ‘no’.”  
“O, cut it out. I know what you are talking about. I was also there, every time I asked you out, remember?”  
She had shut her mouth immediately and the smile had been faded away.  
“Yes I do and I’m sorry I said ‘no’ every time.” She had answered softly.  
There was some silence and James met her eyes. Then she had said:  
“You know what? In stead of doing it old fashioned, the girls can also ask the guys. That way, they don’t have to sit helplessly when they aren’t asked out by the right guy.”  
“Why? So you can ask the guy out you like?” James had asked.  
“Maybe.” With that mysterious answer she had gathered her stuff and had walked away. He had reminded himself inwardly that he had sworn not to ask her out, and give her up, but still he could feel some jealousy towards the ‘guy’.~  


This morning, the posters and flyers for the feast had been posted, and James had already been asked by a girl. He had said ‘no’ though.(To be precisely, he had said, that as Head Boy, he had obligations, and wouldn’t be able to dance during the feast. That way, he hoped that it would disappoint girls before they asked and had to hear him say ‘no’) There seemed to be a difference between letting Lily go and actually dating other people, though.  
He sighed. It was just the last week of October. That meant that there would be 2 whole months coming, in which he had to endure the sight of Lily being asked out by other boys. That also meant that the sparkle in his eyes would surely stay away those 2 months. He sighed again and let himself fall on his bed. The problem was that there al ready was something on his bed. Two pieces of parchment: one poem and one letter, both in a neat handwriting.  
 **  
_10 things I hate about you_  
** __

_I hated the way you talked to me,_

_and the way you ruffled your hair._

_I hated the way you pranked me_

_I hated it when you stared._

_I hated your big dumb ego-head_

_and the way you read my mind._

_I hated you so much it made me sick,_

_it even makes me rhyme._

_I hate the way you’re always right,_

_I hated it when you lie._

_I hate it when you make me laugh,_

_even worse when you make me cry._

_I hate it when you’re not around,_

_and the fact that you still didn’t ask me to the ball.._

_But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you,_

_not even close_

_not even a little bit_

_not even at all.  
_ The poem was not singed, and although James was a curious boy and was dying to know what stood in the letter, he couldn’t help but notice that at some points in the poem it was past tense and at some points present tense.  
He now fixed his attention to the letter:  
 _Dear James,  
_ __ _Before I go any further, let me tell you that I’m the biggest fool in Hogwarts.  
_ _I am falling for a boy, who is just trying to go back to not-liking me. If I knew last year that you could be different in this way of the word, and what it would do to you, I never would have asked it.  
_ __ _O, believe me, I’m glad that my hair hasn’t turned brown this year because (and I quote you) “that way it would match your eyes” or that the howlers that contained love songs have stopped coming.  
_ __ _But if I knew, that with those idiotic things your sparkle in your eyes would also left, and if I knew, that I was quite in love with that sparkle, I never would have asked.  
_ __ _I like you, James. And please be yourself again. Please ask me out for the next dance, or Hogsmeade-trip, or famous snowball fight I know you and your friends hold every year when the first snow arrives.  
_ __ _Because if you don’t, I will. And coincidentally, the Head Girl has just decided that it would be appropriate for girls to ask guys. (I heard the Head Boy had some trouble with that…. Was scared that she would ask other guys than him)  
_ __ _Love,  
_ __ _Lily Evans  
_ __ _Ps: the poem proves that I’m indeed the biggest fool in Hogwarts. It rolled out of my feather when I was trying to write this letter.  
_ __ __James stood up quickly, ran to the mirror and grinned: the sparkle was back.  



End file.
